The call will urge the Trump Administration to stop the wall and stop the lies
A recording of the call is available here.
Earlier today, Fernando Garcia, the executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, Linda Rivas of the Women’s March of El Paso, Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX-16), and Beto O’Rourke gathered to speak on the March for Truth, an event to uplift and celebrate the vibrancy of the El Paso community.
Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) said, “El Pasoans decided that they wanted to channel the frustration, the outrage, the pain, the anger – it’s real anger – that they feel into something as deeply American as a rally. I’m so proud of the way they’ve gone about things. When you’re at the rally you will feel the fierce community pride, the fierce border pride that we have.
For us this misinformation is personal. It’s an attack on our family and on our identity, and it’s one we won’t stand for. El paso – in the face of incredible cruelty from the Trump administration – reacts with beauty. This community has been feeding and taking care of asylum seekers for years, and has been working hard for the most vulnerable for decades and decades. The rest of the country could stand to learn a lesson from the way in which the El Paso community engages with people.”
Beto O’Rourke, Former El Paso Congressman (TX-16) said, “The President will promise a wall and will repeat his lies about the dangers that immigrants pose. We will welcome him to one of the safest cities in the United States, safe not because of walls and not in spite of the fact that we are a city of immigrants but safe because we are a city of immigrants and because we treat each other with dignity and respect. A city that has the opportunity to lead on the most important issues before us, out of experience, out of compassion and out of a fierce determination to see this country live its ideals and rise to its full potential.”
Linda Rivas, Women’s March El Paso said, “This March for Truth is important because we want Trump to know that we are a strong community that will not accept lies about our city. We know that wall do not make us safer and we continue to be proud by our bi-cultural community. Immigration is a core issue to us as a border community. We are ready to stand together and stand united. We are going to march, rally and have incredible speakers with such great representation in our leaders. We will rally and take out this anger in a positive and civil way because that’s who we are as people. And we are planning to end with an incredible celebration that truly demonstrate who we are. We’re taking this opportunity and we are seizing it.”
Fernando Garcia, Executive Director at Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) said, “This is an important moment for El Paso, the border, and the nation. We are at a crossroads of what America will be in the future. What you will hear today outside the coliseum where Trump will be speaking is a community saying, “enough is enough.” What we are seeing, as El Pasoans, is asylum-seekers and refugees being denied at our borders, children dying in our detention centers. By the index of criminality — if that’s what we’re measuring by — it should be the White House that has fences around it, not El Paso. Tonight, we will see thousands of families, citizens, and community leaders marching, expressing another vision of our community — but also showing everyone what El Paso isn’t about. El Paso is not about walls.
